Support Your Local Homebrew Shop !

[tazman1967]

I live within driving distance of Craftbrewer.... h34r:
But still call into a local HBS.
The guy behind the counter is young, keen and just made the move to AG.
He has base grains and a few common spec grains....I just call in to pick up a US05 packet...or a kilo of Munich etc...
He has base grains and a few common spec grains....
BUT... He stocks White Labs Liquid Yeasts..
Just got the Some British Yeast in.. (all yeasts and hops are kept in a fridge)
Just support the the good ones...let the bad ones go out of business..

Which they dont....thanks to the water purification business...
I know one small shop which sells at lest 42 25KG sacks of dextrose a week...
With out this business IMHO most HBS would fold and go under.
Your average punter wants more bang for his buck, Bourbon instead of beer...

 

[Pumpy]

If my LHBS was staffed by helpful, friendly chaps instead of a pair of lazy, obnoxious twats, then I'd probably be inclined to buy more than the odd emergency hydrometer off them. They just don't seem interested in beer at all, 'purified water' is their game- you can tell by the pallets of dex in the middle of the shop and the wall of essence. Failing that, my selection has to have a big BC emblem (which is never does) for them to serve me with some measure of politeness and offer a few kind words of advice, but most often I find I'm so inconsiderately keeping them from the important business of water purification. I handed back the expired pack of US05 they tried to sell me last time I was there, I guess I should be thankful it was in the fridge... Yep, sponsors are a blessing, I've no doubt!

We dont have to support obnoxious twats .....nothing worse

 

[matho]

well my not so LHBS is AbsoluteHomebrew

pat is great with lots of information about what ever you want to brew if there is anyone in the western sydney region that want to learn more about homebrew the go to pat soon because he wont be around for long

cheers matho

 

[Pumpy]

I go to Pat Casey at St Marys he is going to open his own brewery ( poor bugger ) but he makes a sucess of most things he does and has the big bucks

 

[HoppingMad]

I sense this thread might descend into a bag the LHBS topic, so I'll chip in and say this about Melbourne stores.

I actually think they're all on the improve actually. If you had asked me what I thought of LHBS across Victoria a few years back I would have said 'garbage' with one or two exceptions, but now I'm seeing many of them step up and improve with more knowledgeable staff and a better range of gear. I think they've had to in Vic, as otherwise they would have lost all their customers to places like G&G.

I think it's easy for us on here to pay out on many of these retailers, but as pumpy says they are supporting us, so I do support them too.

As well as:
- Supermarkets for Dex & Bottle Caps
- Bulkbuys for Grain
- Online for brew-books
- Ebay and AHB for gear
- Sponsors when the price is right

What can I say, I have a big heart, but unfortunately my bank balance is small.

Hopper.

 

[Brewman_]

I believe in supporting good LHBS. I live near Newcastle and I am lucky the store I go to is great. Like most homebrewers, I don't get everything there since there are the odd things they don't have, but this is rare. Also there are services that I have got through this store that would be difficult to get over the net or through the post, and these have saved me hundreds of dollars at times.

In my purchasing I am not completely cost focused, rather look at the overall value of what I get and where I get it from. That is not to say that cost is not important - it is, but rather one factor in what I buy and where I buy.

Fear_n_loath

 

[pk.sax]

I, in my noobness bought a giant pack of crown seals from my HBS, and later realized I was ripped off on them. But he also sold me the siphon I use for far cheaper than anybody else has and will mill grain for me etc... The bloke supports our brew club, gives decen advice most times, is an avid brewer himself by all I've seen. All I need to do is keep my eyes open and not encourage his overpriced items. I suppose I can do that

There are good HBS around everywhere and quite often they can be found online and made local if ur own is not up to scratch. I was looking for a yeast and both G&G and craftbrewer had out of stock sign on their website so I found Pat from St Marys who provides a web ordering service and imports your yeast from the US fresh every month on order! There is just such a variety of good service stores in oz either local or through mailorder that save a few things I'd hardly need to go anywhere else at all. And obviously, the closest decent store gets first dibs on my cash for saving me the postage and waiting

 

[Nick JD]

I kick over kiddie's lemonade stands. I can buy a box of 24 cans for $12 - and it's fizzy.

Little pricks and their $1 cups of crappy sour homemade "lemonade". Fark.

The only thing that needs support is saggy ****.

 

[Hatchy]

I'm lucky enough to work a 7 minute drive from beerbelly. They get the majority of my business partly because I work right near them but more because they have a good range at good prices. I live a couple of streets away from a brewcraft but when I called them a few weeks ago the bloke on the phone hadn't heard of galaxy or cascade, I don't think I'll bother with them again. Hopsdirect were looking pretty good but they seem to be out of lots of stuff at the moment.

 

[DangerousDave]

i work round the corner from brewz2you

great range, great prices, great advice from an owner who is clearly passionate

the advice is the main thing for me as a new brewer i know i can go in and ask basic questions about a brew im gonna do every time and not get the 'your wasting my time' look

i feel very sorry to all those without a great LHBS and i agree with manticle if your local is good support it if not they can suck my left nut (im looking at you brewcraft)

 

[shonks69]

i work round the corner from brewz2you

great range, great prices, great advice from an owner who is clearly passionate

the advice is the main thing for me as a new brewer i know i can go in and ask basic questions about a brew im gonna do every time and not get the 'your wasting my time' look

i feel very sorry to all those without a great LHBS and i agree with manticle if your local is good support it if not they can suck my left nut (im looking at you brewcraft)

+1 Dave
I live about 30 km's away and make the journey on average about once a fortnight. Every recipe I have tried has been sensational and James always goes the extra length to make sure that I'm sorted. :icon_cheers:

 

[Brewman_]

I kick over kiddie's lemonade stands. I can buy a box of 24 cans for $12 - and it's fizzy.

Little pricks and their $1 cups of crappy sour homemade "lemonade". Fark.

The only thing that needs support is saggy ****.

Forget brewing, your getting ripped off on your lemonade. Your Local lemonade merchant is having you. 24 cans of good lemonade should not cost more than $8, depening on condition & Fizz. (Not on special).

Fear_n_loath

 

[Nevalicious]

I'm lucky enough to work a 7 minute drive from beerbelly. They get the majority of my business partly because I work right near them but more because they have a good range at good prices. I live a couple of streets away from a brewcraft but when I called them a few weeks ago the bloke on the phone hadn't heard of galaxy or cascade, I don't think I'll bother with them again. Hopsdirect were looking pretty good but they seem to be out of lots of stuff at the moment.

I'm with Hatchy! Beerbelly is about a 10 min drive from my house... Never again will I step into a Brewcraft again... I have two of them near me too! Wayne and Amanda are lovely ppl, always happy to help and great prices! These are the sorts of businesses we need to support!

Tyler

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

I live 10 minutes from greensborough home brewing, dave is fantastic and stockes a huge variety of grain, hops etc for a small store.

He is cheap too (for a LHBS), with grain, hops and yeast costing under $30 for most brews :beerbang:

 

[ekul]

The poeple at my lhbs are very friendly, however they don't stock grain, hops or a very wide selction of yeast. They have repackaged US05, which is handy sometimes, but doesn't fire up like normal US05 does, usually takes a few days. And they have turbo and wine yeast too. I do think they move a fair bit of product as the extract beers i made from their ingredients always turned out alright.

Actually they do have some hops, they have pride of ringwood flowers and whilst they are cheap (10c/g) they are old and lack any kind of aroma. Using them really makes a beer taste as close to commercial as possible actually. BItterness, no flavour. PLus there is bits of leaf and stem in there. I only used them once when i was halfway througha brew and realised i didn't have any POR.

They sad they could order in some base malt for me but that is was going to cost me $9 a kilo!! So i declined. THey did help me get in contact with some of the brewers around here though, which was very helpful.

I do frequent the shop to get ldme and dex, but i would go alot more if they started stocking grain, yeast and hops.

EDITED TO ADD~ The reason i made this post was not to comment on my lhbs at all. I was going to reply to hatchy's comment that hopsdirect doesn't have much in stock! ANyway, if you click on 'leaf hops' instead of 'pellet hops' you will see that they have just harvested a heap of stuff. So i'm assuming they will have all those varieties pelletised very soon for us all to start using.

 

[chadjaja]

I'll support Dave too and all this thread and others like it has done is point out the difference between a LHBS and a franchise.

 

[zebba]

I have to go to mine sometimes in emergencies (i.e. I thought I had US-05 in the fridge, but I didn't). It hurts every time. I tried to give it a chance, but when the service is lousy, the range is lousy, and the prices are high...

@ Chadjaja - my local is independant. There is no difference between "LHBS" and "Franchise". You gotta judge individuals on their own merits.

 

[Swizzle]

Anyone been to the lhbs in Launceston? Do check it out if in town. It's a cultural excursion to say the least.

 

[amiddler]

Try a 800k round trip to a decent home brew shop for all grain brews. If you could call it local, i try to support this shop when i am up there.

I too did a 800k round trip to what I call my local HBS just this Saturday. Have to fill the ute to make it worth while but he is also just an email/phone call away when I need advice.

I know of someone here in Gero that wants to open a brew shop but things are moving slowly. Would be nice to have a brew shop only 10 minutes away.

Drew

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

I live on the northside of the Brown river in the CBD where I work.

The LHBS on the northside fairly close to me is absolute rubbish. Snarly old farts (who often smoke in the shop, despite it being illegal), who sell minimal grain (and judging by the large range of cans, don't brew AG) at inflated prices and the shop is a mess with water purifying rubbish and rows and rows of purified water flavouring. If I really need a packet of US-05 or something, I might go there on the rare occasion.

Otherwise, much rather a drive to Craftbrewer. Sure it is a 30-odd km drive, but you can have a yak down there, the range is fantastic and the price is great. They are the epitome of a well run, knowledgable LHBS with great service, and it is no wonder that they continue to thrive.

Only downside is now that they have the brew pub (and as a result the licence), no more free tastes of Ross and Anthony's latest creations - they pay excise on everything coming out from those taps. - Bummer - Ross gave me my first taste of Nelson Sauvin hops and I've run with it since.

Goomba